Craig Shakespeare: Eight years at Leicester City

Well, an incredible few years Craig Shakespeare has had, eh?

Craig Shakespearecan look back and be proud of what he accomplished with Leicester City, not to mention, slightly surprised at his time on the Leicester City rollercoaster.

Here’s what he actually achieved:

• Promotions on and off the Pitch

• The Great Escape from Relegation in 2015

• Premier League Champions in 2016

• Call up to be an England Coach

• Given Leicester City manager role

• 1st English manager to win first 4 League Matches

• Champions League Quarter Finalists 2016

Pre-Leicester City Days

Craig Shakespeare started his playing career at Walsall as predominantly a central/left-sided and footed midfielder (where he was a Third Division play-off winner: 1988), making over three hundred and fifty appearances.

After his time there, he moved for a short stint at Sheffield Wednesday. At this time, he met Nigel Pearson, starting a professional relationship.

Post Sheffield, he had slightly more playing time at West Bromwich Albion and Grimsby Town before retiring soon after. Although before this, he did what all professionals still ‘in love’ with playing game do – turn out for a few non-league clubs.

All in all, he made nearly 500 professional appearances. Not an illustrious top-flight career, but a steady and committed lower league stalwart with a brain for off the pitch considerations.

Coaching/Managing

West Bromwich Albion parted company with their man in charge (Bryan Robson) in 2006 (and his assistant Nigel Pearson). Shakespeare, then first team coach at The Baggies, took charge of the first team for a single game.

At this time, West Brom were in talks with Tony Mowbray. When Mowbray joined as manager, he relieved ‘Shakey’ of his role and the latter returned to coaching.

He actually won the game in which he was the caretaker manager, beating Crystal Palace 2–0. There’s one other single fixture win for him, which we’ll point out soon.

Leicester City Days

Craig Shakespeare then became former teammate Nigel Pearson’s assistant manager at Leicester City. He has been quoted as saying:

"“Pearson was the best captain he had ever played under”."

When Pearson left Leicester after his first tenure, both him and Shakespeare went as manager/assistant to Hull City. They came back to Leicester City when Pearson returned to the King Power Stadium as senior team boss in November 2011.

Pearson then went on to engineer success by securing the Division 1 and Championship title campaigns, subsequently returning to the Premiership.

During the 2014\15 season, Leicester were the bottom team in the Premier League table until as late as March. This was despite showing signs of something special against Man Utd in a 5-3 thriller in September (with the enigmatic veteran Esteban “Cuchu” Cambiasso leading the way).

Pearson’s side went on to win seven of their last nine games, drawing with Sunderland 0-0 on May 16 to retain their top-flight status. Mind, Leicester City are the only team to have less than 20 points from 29 games and not be relegated from the top league in English football.

Pearson Departs Leicester City

Pearson was sacked soon after completing what journalists dubbed the ‘Great Escape’ from relegation. The club stated its reasons:

"“The working relationship between Nigel and the Board was no longer viable”."

This came after his son, James, and three youth players were involved in a sexual-racist video in Thailand (where the Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha hails from), during the summer of 2015.

Somewhat surprisingly, Craig Shakespeare was retained as the assistant manager by the Midlands club’s new boss, Claudio Ranieri. They went on to win the Premier League together by ten clear points, beating former champions and football ‘super-powers’ home and away in the process.

This was an unprecedented level of success, especially for a club in a city with a population of just over 300,000 people, not to mention being ranked 5000-1 outsiders with the bookmakers as the season commenced.

When England Call

Another feather in the cap for Shakey’s coaching success was when Sam Allardyce (then England head coach) gave him coaching position alongside his Leicester job. This clearly revealed his standing amongst his peers. Unfortunately for them both, it lasted just one match as ‘Big Sam’ resigned after it emerged that:

"“He allegedly offered to give advice on how to get around on FA rules on player third party ownership and negotiating a £400,000 deal.”"

That was the other 100% success rate Shakespeare enjoyed along with his one-match occupancy as caretaker-manager at WBA.

Leicester City’s Number One

"“Taking over from Claudio was the hardest thing I’ve had to do.” – Craig Shakespeare"

After Claudio Ranieri was relieved of his duties at Leicester, Shakespeare was made caretaker manager in February 2017. He began with a dramatic swing of form commencing in a 3-1 win against Liverpool at home on February 27. The next month, he was appointed manager until the end of the season.

Then, after an impressive run that saw him become the first English manager to win four Premier League games in a row. In due course, he was appointed permanent manager in June, signing a three-year contract. Craig’s Leicester team had a ratio of three goals per game in his first three matches in charge.

The Decline

Performances and the points haul drastically deteriorated at the start of the 2017/18 season. Many fans talked about the tactics being incorrect, policies including selecting favourites and also having a stale roster. Shakespeare actually won more points in his first five games in charge than he did in the rest of his entire career as the Foxes’ boss.

Consequently, Shakespeare was sacked by Leicester on 17 October, 2017 with Leicester sitting in the relegation zone. Vice Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, said:

"“Craig has been a great servant to Leicester City – during his spells as an Assistant Manager and since taking over as Manager in challenging circumstances in February. His dedication to the Club and to his work has been absolute and the contribution he made to the most successful period in Leicester City history is considerable."

"“However, our early promise under Craig’s management has not been consistently evident in the months since and the Board feels that, regrettably, a change is necessary to keep the Club moving forward – consistent with the long-term expectations of our supporters, Board and owners. “Craig is and will remain a very popular, respected figure at Leicester City and will be welcome back at King Power Stadium in future, both professionally and as a friend of the Club.”"

A quote from respected Telegraph Football Writer,  John Percy, gives insight into the truth behind the split:

"“He (Shakespeare) will point to the sale of Drinkwater (against his wishes) and (the) Silva mess. Malaise runs far deeper and needs sorting”"

Likewise, ex-LCFC player/fan, Gary linker Tweeted:

"“It’s even more remarkable really that Leicester won the league given the ineptitude of those that run the club.”"

Times Change

The ruthless nature of elite football (as well as the disparity between our triumph and failures) ensured Craig’s demise. He hadn’t had anything to do with poor recruiting (or the Adrien Silva debacle). It certainly wasn’t his fault that important players were injured or under-performing.

So the firing may seem a little harsh in respect to Craig’s achievements in under two years. However, with the revenue and Premier League status at stake, it seems Leicester do need an accomplished catalyst on and off the pitch to ensure their survival and prosperity. The owners want growth and stability as a team and business.

Leicester’s head honchos desire is for the club to be a top half team (at least) – to be challenging for domestic cups as well as competing for a place in European competitions.

If he was treated unfairly, do not weep for Craig too much as he is an elite coach whose phone will be “ringing off the hook with offers”, as Leicester’s Rob Tanner said on Tuesday.

Going down in history as a club legend is guaranteed to be influential on a football resume. He’ll be inundated with job opportunities, possibly more in a coaching capacity than as a manager.

Leicester Must Move with the Times – A Message to the New Gaffer

Drop the 4-4-2 formation. Times change, and the Foxes must move with them (all sentimental attachment to the system which won us the best league in the world must be severed).

4-3-3, 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2  is absolutely the way to go for City. In respect to the three centre backs, just look at the extent of success it has brought Chelsea or in turn gaze upon Tottenham Hotspur. They’re terrifying defences, yet are still solid at their back line.

Similarly, Manchester United and Manchester City are seemingly the main title contenders – using a 4-3-3 formation the majority of the time. They have fast fullbacks who act almost as wing backs. Thus enabling one of the defensive central midfielders to cover or protect in their absence.

These systems should also aptly incorporate Kelechi Iheanacho, the proven goalscorer from Manchester City (he flourished in City’s system).

Talking of surveying successful frameworks, cast your mind back to what integrating inverted wingers gave Leicester City as a team. While using that imported system they achieved promotion and a league title. Examples are Knockaert, Albrighton and 2016 PFA player of the year Riyad Mahrez profiting well from this method.

Finally

To finish, here’s an appropriate William Shakespeare quote which befits Craig’s Shakespeare’s time in Leicester:

"“All the world’s a stage.“And all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances;"

"And one man in his time plays many parts”."